Since
the last demo of the band pleased my hears and their music keeps
on improving, here you find an interview of Michel, guitarist
of the french Death metal band The Seven Gates.

1.
Hello, it's the beginning of the interview, so to catch the interest
of our readers could you tell us more about the passionating things
that occurred in the world of THE SEVEN GATES lately?

Hello to you!
Lately we had the pleasure to play beautiful gigs with very nice
bands, since we shared the stage with fantastic groups such as Pyrexia,
Beheaded, Savage Annihilation, Malignant Tumour and Possessed. And
since there are no plans for gigs before September, we are currently
working on the next album.

2. You recently
released a two tracks demo entitled "MMXIII". The two
songs evolve in a style to be a bit more brutal, is this due to
the playing of the replacement drummer (Who was a part of Disavowed,
Mumakil or Benighted, who play a style closer to brutal death metal),
or could we expect something in this vein in the future?

What you can
hear on these two tracks is the reflection of the way The Seven
Gates sounds nowadays. It can perhaps be surprising compared to
the Angel of suffering album that was released quite some time ago,
but at the time if we had the same line up to record, trust me the
outcome wouldn't have been located so far from the new 'MMXIII'
demo.

All the more,
this time we worked with Thibault Bernard from Convulsound Studios,
and he brought a lot to us in terms of production, the sound lacked
something on the previous album.

3. It's
nice to be able to download this promo for free, but I imagine some
metallers would have liked to own a physical medium (A Vynil Ep
released could have pleased collectors quite well)... But maybe
these two tracks will also be a part of your next album? Speaking
of this future recording, I read on another webzine the composition
was finished for most. Can you draw a little overview for us? What
will it contain of "more" or "less" compared
to the first one? (Maybe some instrumental "interludes"
to essentially consist of guitars?)

In fact, it
could have been good to release 'MMXIII' as an Ep, why not on vynil
format, but the goal was before all to show the band is really alive,
and to give an overview of the way the music sounds nowadays. It
was the first goal. These two tracks will most certainly be a part
of the next album. To answer your question, yes we could say 80%
of the music is ready, seven songs are almost finished, and there
are hundreds of riffs here and there that need to be sorted, arranged,
etc... This is the work we are up to now, and it's already in the
way.Compared to the first album, expect more brutality, but
this said we keep the versatile aspect that -in my understanding-
enriches music.

4. The
title of your first record began with "A"... By chance,
would the second one begin with "B"?

Hahaha! I'm
really afraid it won't... To tell you everything, we had found a
title that pleased us enormously, but a band of international repute
just released an album under this same title! So we are thinking
about an alternative, we might change of idea, or might not bother
and release the album under this title anyway since the band in
question doesn't really practice the same style than we do. To follow...

5. On your
Facebook page, I noticed you had a new logo that looks more morbid
and closer to the one of Possessed... Could we find here any sign
of presentiment, or should I really stop seeing premotions when
there are not? AhAh

Both! Haha!
No, we needed a new logo, I drew this one and there arenít any references
to a band in particular... Expect maybe for one of my older bands
called "Abyssals", and strictly on a design point of view.

6. In hindsight,
are you satisfied with the work of Heavy Artillery records?

It's hard to
say, they had begun a good work of promotion, but then things got
worse on our side, with a long phasis of stagnation, and numerous
problems for various reasons, so we weren't really able to propel
the band. In these conditions it was hard for us to take care of
the promotion, so it's also hard to criticize the label and say
they didn't do their job properly. I think they could have done
better, but they also could have done worse.

7. I
must say I heard quite rarely about your album in the underground
Death metal spectrum (Death metal with a capitalized "D"),
apart from few reviews here and there (I didn't see much in the
specialized Death metal zines that talk only about this genre, including
those released on paper). So I wonder if the label wasn't a bit
too much specialized in heavy/ thrash? What are your projects concerning
the labels and assimilated?

Nowadays, our
hands are free. So we will finish the composition of the album,
then record it, and later communicate to find a label that does
a decent job. If we aren't able to find one to fit our needs, we
might move towards self-production. We were quite often speaking
about it lately.

8. Since
the amount of Death metal bands should keep on increasing, the style
currently being fashionable, how do you think THE SEVEN GATES could
stand out? Maybe thanks to the atmosphere escaping your music that
is not so common in 2013? (This said, how do you inject this real,
scarlet, and somber atmosphere? Have you got a tip in particular
such as vine, sex... Or this would simply be something innate?)

Hahaha! I wouldn't
know how to answer this! Seriously speaking, I play Death metal
since 1987 and very naturally I don't have the same approach of
music, nor the same references neither influences that someone who
would have discovered the genre ten years ago. So I think it's natural
to feel this in the compositions, even if my band-mates are all
younger than myself and take a part of the composition process.There
is also -I think- an idea, a vision of Death metal of our own, that
isn't necessarily shared by the new generation who can be more focused
on pure technics and brutality, than on brutality and image (I mean
on an oniric point of view, the way we conceive it).

9. The metal
bands often have a few slogans to motivate themselves in special
moments, such as before gigs or during rehearsals... So, what are
yours?

Hm.. We don't
have real slogans for this, we warm ourselves, increase in pressure,
and just before playing we look at ourselves eyes in eyes saying
"We will break their ass" or something like that, but
nothing constant. No black mass, no cheerleaders, sorry! haha

10. A few
years before the creation of THE SEVEN GATES, other previous members
of MUTILATED had formed a Death metal bands named ACT OF GODS that
provided our hears with quite brutal albums. Did you listen to their
music, and if it's not too indiscreet, what did you think about
it? Maybe their deathly initiative helped you to plunge again in
the morbid side of things? (One can imagine anything, I'm not aware
about your morbid activities preceding the creation of THE SEVEN
GATES from a few years).

Yes, I had
the opportunity to listen to Act Of Gods. Effectively this is brutal,
but I didn't get into the music more than that. And to confess everything,
it's not easy to remain objective when you judge the music of peoples
you separated from in your ancient bands, because then you know
their defects, their way to do things, etc... So the listening is
a bit parasitized. And what I heard didn't motivate me to make the
effort to pass over this sensation. Perhaps I was wrong. Even surely.
But well..

11. You
should remain quite fond of the MUTILATED recordings, those were
recently re-released on vynil an official way... Do you think it
could be possible one day to set a reunion of the band, even only
for a few gigs, or maybe the past members changed too much on personal
and musical points of view?

No, it's out
of the question. I don't have the time, the energy, nor the desire.
I was very happy Raymond, the boss of Triumph Ov Death records,
re-released the tracks on a vynil of a wonderful quality, but I
was equally content he took care of the project from A to Z and
I'm very grateful for this.The Seven Gates consumes all my free
time, or almost, and I prefer to focus myself on present things
rather than to restore the memory of an old band that will never
see the light of day again and still leaves me a taste of immense
waste. I think this double album release on T.O.D records rightly
repairs this injustice and closes the Mutilated chapter once and
for all.

12. What
does Death metal mean for you? If you make a comparison between
the meaning these words could have when you were 20 years old in
the 80s, and the one it can have nowadays, which main differences
do you see?

None. I still
feel Death metal the same way, for me this concept is out of time
and out of trends. The thing I don't really know is, the way
someone else can interpret it and what it could mean for him.Since
I was able to discuss with quite a lot of peoples from the younger
generation, I know many of them live this thing the same way I do,
and it's reassuring. But nothing tells me I'm right to see the things
under this angle and anyway each individual will interpret things
his way and according to his own ideals. Things change and evolve,
whatever you do. The essential for me is that the movement keeps
on going without travesty, because it represents a big part of my
life and it matters for me, but I won't be able to have any influence
on this point except for what my friends and myself will be able
to bring through the music of The Seven Gates.

13. If one
day you discovered the 8th gate, and it came to open itself, what
kind of nice things could hide behind?

A deal with
an enormous label, some tours with the best bands of the world and
some Thai whores.

14. What
are the favorite albums of the band members for 2012/ beginning
of 2013? I mostly think about the albums released recently, but
you could quote your all time faves if you wish.

Haa! A play-list!
Lately, I was listening to the 'Spartacus' album of Ade, the new
Svart Crown that kicks the ass of many peoples, including myself,
the Offending album entitled 'Age of perversion', the 'Scorn Aesthetics'
record of Ad Patres, and also old stuffs such as the first Black
Sabbath albums, 'Outside' of David Bowie, 'Conquering The Throne'
and 'Phoenix Amongst The Ashes' of Hate Eternal, 'The Emergence
of Reptilian Altars' of Dim Mak, 'Hell Awaits' of Slayer, 'Seven
Churches' of Possessed, 'Abigail' of King Diamond, 'Where the Corpses
Sink Forever' of Carach Angren, 'Malleus Maleficarum' of Pestilence,
the new Suffocation album 'Pinnacle of Bedlam', this is a jewel!
etc.. Aaah, there are hundreds of beautiful albums I would like
to quote but your interview would take many pages!

15. Tell
us more about the future projects of THE SEVEN GATES! You can add
what you wish to conclude, thanks for the answers.

As I said before,
we will try to finish the composition of the next album this summer,
before playing gigs again as soon as September with Mercyless, Ad
Patres, Otargos, Scars On Murmansk, Savage Annihilation and many
others!To conclude, I would encourage every Death metal fans
to refuel themselves with testosterone and come a bit more during
gigs (Except those of the 'big names'), it would do good to the
scene as a whole and also to themselves in particular! Support
The Seven Gates, because we'll give you back with blood and sweat!!!
Thank you for the interview and for you time, G. Salut!